Tweaking Fritz - PART 9

7/7/2008 – In the final installment of the ChessBase Workshop series on tweaking the various general settings in Fritz, we explore the ins and outs of the "Design" tab settings. Find out more in the latest Workshop.

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In our final ChessBase Workshop column on Fritz11's "Options" tweaks, we're going to look at various display options. Let's fire up Fritz11, go to the Tools menu, select "Options", and then click on the "Design" tab:

This dialogue gives you a variety of ways to adjust Fritz11's screen appearance.

The first tweaks we'll consider are contained in the "Background" box. The first pulldown under "Windows" lets you adjust the background color of the various panes in the main chessboard screen, as well as the Toolbar's background. For example, here's what "Grey" looks like:

Now for comparison's sake, let's try "Cloth" and see what happens:

The difference is especially apparent in the area surrounding the clocks. The first illustration shows a slightly textured grey, while the second shows a fabric pattern around the clocks. The programmers have provided a variety of backgrounds for your use; if they don't suit you, it's possible to switch to a "Plain color" selected from the standard Windows color palette. For example:

This particular color scheme is recommended for users who want to walk away from their computer, look at a white wall an hour later, and still be seeing their Fritz11 screen.

There's also a "User BMP" option. If you have a texture file you've created or downloaded, you can use it as long as it's in .BMP file format.

Let's switch back to the "Grey" option for another example:

While we're here, let's look at what the "Windows colors" check box does. Using the "Grey" background above, we'll check the box and find out what happens:

We can see that checking this box removes the selected background color from the Notation pane (and Engine analysis pane) to make the text easier to read.

The second tweak in the "Background" box, the pulldown under "Board", doesn't alter the chessboard itself but rather the area surrounding it. For example, here's what the "Dark wood" option looks like:

I've cropped the view, eliminating part of the board to emphasize the background behind it (i.e. the "table" the board is sitting on). Let's make another choice -- this time we'll try the (misspelled) "Light Granit" option:

Here again you also have the option to select "Plain color" and "User BMP" as you did with the window backgrounds.

The "Board design" and "3D Board settings" buttons are just shortcuts to the 2D and 3D board controls which have been discussed at length in past Workshops.

Checking "Large buttons" changes the size of the Toolbar buttons:

The check boxes for "Notation in high quality", "Gradients", and "Window titles" simply turn these features on and off. The "Splitter thickness" value controls the width of the borders between panes on the main chessboard screen; higher values make for thicker borders.

And there we have it -- the "Options" tabs thoroughly explained. These allow you to blend, stir, and season to taste your Fritz11 program. Until next week, have fun!

You can e-mail me with your comments on ChessBase Workshop. No tech support questions, please.

See also

12/30/2017 – The "King Salman World Blitz & Rapid Championships 2017" in Riyadh from Decemer 26th to 30th. At the half way point of the Blitz Championship, the defending champ Sergey Karjakin leads with 9 / 11. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is a half point back followed by Peter Svidler and a trio of Chinese: Wang, Ding and Yu on 8 / 11. In the Women's Pia Cramling has a full point lead with 9½ / 11. Watch live with Rounds 11 to 22 from 12:00 Noon CET (6:00 AM EST) on Saturday with commentary by E. Miroshnichenko & WGM K. Tsatsalashvili.

See also

12/6/2017 – Imagine this: you tell a computer system how the pieces move — nothing more. Then you tell it to learn to play the game. And a day later — yes, just 24 hours — it has figured it out to the level that beats the strongest programs in the world convincingly! DeepMind, the company that recently created the strongest Go program in the world, turned its attention to chess, and came up with this spectacular result.

Video

The Exchange Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3) is a simple and easy to learn answer to the Caro-Kann. By clarifying the central tension White gives himself a clear plan of attack using the half open e-file and the e5 square. This is far from easy for Black to meet as Bobby Fischer, Jan Timman, Walter Browne and other leading Grandmasters have demonstrated in their games. Black too has his resources but he needs to know what he's doing. On this DVD you will find a clear explanation of the strategy for both sides as well as answers to popular treatments such as 4...Nc6 5.c3 Qc7. Whilst the main focus is on the White side of this opening you will also find ways for Black to defend.